The present invention relates to an aseptic protector and, in particular, to an aseptic protector for use with skin penetrating devices that functions: to prevent, inhibit or arrest infection where the skin penetrating device penetrates a patient's skin; as a buffer to prevent injury to a patient or clinician or damage to the skin penetrating device; and to inhibit unwanted movement of the skin penetrating device once it is in place.
Frequently, medical procedures commonly used in plastic, general, orthopedic and oral surgery involve the use of skin penetrating devices, such as but not limited to, pins to maintain bones or sections of fractured bones in a fixed relationship and proper alignment with respect to each other; intravenous lines; plastic drain tubes for draining fluids from within the body after a medical procedure has been performed; and other similar devices. In many instances these skin penetrating devices may have to remain in place for long periods of time, e.g. about three to six weeks in certain orthopedic procedures, and circumstances may prevent washing the skin in the general area of the skin penetrating device. The points of skin penetration by these devices are potential locations where infectious processes can commence and spread into the body. Thus, there has long been a need to provide a sterile, aseptic environment about these skin penetrating devices where the devices pass though the skin of the patient.
Another problem encountered in the use of these skin penetrating devices is the need to keep these devices from being inadvertently damaged and/or moved by external forces, e.g. when a patient or a clinician inadvertently brushes the protruding portion of the skin penetrating device against or rapidly brings the protruding portion of the skin penetrating device into contact with something hard or catches the device on a piece of clothing or other more rigid obstruction. The types of inadvertent movements to be prevented or inhibited include lateral, twisting and rotational movements of the devices as well as movement of the devices further into or out from the body. In addition to the need to keep the devices from being inadvertently moved or damaged, certain of the skin penetrating devices, e.g. the pins used in orthopedic procedures, have sharp or pointed ends which, if contacted, can inflict injury upon the patient or a clinician.
As shown in FIG. 1, current practices which include the use of end caps on pins, do not provide an aseptic environment about the skin penetrating device nor do they function effectively as a buffer to protect the patient or clinician or to prevent movement of or damage to the pin. Thus, not only has there been a need to provide a sterile, aseptic environment about these skin penetrating devices where the devices pass though the skin of the patient, there also has been a need to buffer the skin penetrating devices against inadvertent movement and damage and patients and clinicians against accidental injury from the skin penetrating devices.